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Comment by epiphanitus | Hacker News Reader

Honest question: Is there anybody here who regrets taking LSD? Is it really safe or are we dealing with a self-selection problem of the people who would regret taking LSD not being sane enough to bother being on internet forums?

I'm no puritan but it just seems to me like a taking acid is a huge risk to take with one's mental health.

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I have tried LSD a few times and had nothing but positive experiences. My wife, however, tried it once and had a bad trip. She was convinced I was going to murder her (obviously everything I did further proved that point) and everything was scary for her. She was afraid of large trees in a kind of "raises my anxiety baseline" kind of way for about a year after the trip. But, the experience wore off, and she's fine now. She believes that it's possible that the experience contributed to her being a more anxious person now, but that's conflated with all kinds of things like marrying me and changing careers and having greater responsibility for those around her.

I don't think it's as big a risk as you seem to think. The people who I have met who have had bad trips did not see lasting side effects, though they did take a while to wear off.

I'm sure someone else will post it, but if this is something you genuinely want to know more about, read "How to Change Your Mind".

Safe is a relative term.. Only one who can make that decision is you, or the cia. Used responsibly in moderation most people will find it a pretty f'n positive aspect of life.

But ya freakouts do happens and acid casualties are most definitely a thing.

I think when taking mind altering drugs you have to be self-confident, otherwise you should avoid them since that/anxiety is what normally leads to a bad trip. Having a benzo, ex. xanax, around as a backup plan can help _sort of_ stop a trip.

Enough benzos have always turned LSD completely off for me.

Enough, for me, has been 1x 10mm diazepam (Valium) followed by another 1x 10mg diazepam one hour later if I also want to go to sleep.

Or approximately equivalent alprazolam (Xanax) or temazepam.

There was a study done on bad trips. For the vast majority it improved their overall well beeing:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5551678/

Check out my comment history, I’d recommend more caution than most people here do.

I’m okay now, but it was tough for a couple years and I still struggle with anxiety.

From watching others at raves: strongly avoid LSD (or psychedelics) if you have any tendencies towards anxiety/fear/worry. When you meet real demons or your body reconfigures itself, do you go "awesome" or "quivering panic". Do your friends help you, or go awol.

Also generally drug quality is highly variable unless you are very well connected and informed: I've seen young kids take whatever is available and then things go ugly pear shaped (surprise, surprise). Very very bad for health and brain to take what you can get: bad effects can permanently scar your mind and body. At least only take something you have seen someone else take more than 24 hours ago, and take from the exact same batch, as that will filter the very worst stuff out.

You also know the upsides, so there is a risk vs reward calculation.

> strongly avoid LSD (or psychedelics) if you have any tendencies towards anxiety/fear/worry

Not true at all in my experience. Psychedelics are currently studied to alleviate phobias and anxieties and seem to be quite successful at it. My experience matches that. Set and setting is the most important thing in this regard.

> Psychedelics are currently studied to alleviate phobias and anxieties and seem to be quite successful at it.

Maybe in a clinical setting, or at micro-doses.

Recommending "self-treating" with something that risks panic attacks or far worse is simply dangerous.

Find a good specialist if you have a problem.

I am not recommending anything. There is however no reason to "strongly avoid LSD (or psychedelics) if you have any tendencies towards anxiety/fear/worry". It's simply not true.

I have anxiety and it’s not been a major issue for me when using LSD.. But I’m experienced in practicing mindfulness which helps tremendously. The anxiety tends to happen at the beginning of the trip so I remind myself that it’s just the acid and things will be awesome once I ride out the anxiety. For higher doses I usually meditate while the trip comes up.

Not that I haven’t had a bad trip, but when I did it was a result of a clear failure to respect set and setting. Changing the setting put things back on track so I’d characterize it as a “meh” trip rather than a bad one.

Often I experience a massive reduction in anxiety for several weeks following a trip so overall I’d say it’s been very beneficial for me.

i have lots of experience with psychedelics. put simply, there are people who can take psychedelics and there are those who cannot. the molecule itself (LSD) is quite safe and non-toxic. I had a fascination from an early age and never had a 'bad trip'. I have had some unpleasant experiences while tripping, but that's because my life at the time was a mess, and the self reflection involved in tripping helped me learn and come to terms with my mistakes. Psychedelic experiences IMO aren't supposed to be all fun and games, but a serious exploration of your inner self. LSD changed me for the better and I consider myself lucky to have been able to experience it. However, I've seen first hand some people that just lose it, even on smallish doses. I did a lot of research before I ever tried it, I was confident, and even in the midst of ego-death I kept my wits about me. If you're curious about whether or not you're 'compatible' with psychedelics, I would recommend experimenting with shrooms first, because the dosage can be easily controlled with little more than a cheap laboratory balance.

In looking at rat studies a couple weeks ago, my napkin math said that it would take a human between 1 and 10 KILOgrams of LSD to cause death. Tartaric salt may be more toxic that the LSD bound to it. Most people would struggle consuming this much before entering a catatonic psychedelic state, and few have access to these quantities: street value would be ~$10,000,000.

There are certainly risks of engaging in dangerous behaviors while intoxicated, and possibly risks of precipitating latent psychotic predispositions, but its really amazing how non-toxic it is in the physical sense.

I took it quite a lot when I was younger, amoung a bunch of other things. I had a lot of fun and never a bad experience but as I've gotten older my anxiety has grown and I wonder if I could handle it now. I've seen a few people have a bad trip and it looks unpleasant, you just don't really know until you try. A less risky idea could be to take a very small dose.

I've taken LSD. I didn't experience anything profound, and i'm not one of those people that thinks everyone has to try it. But I didn't have a negative experience, either. It was fun, and worth trying if it's something that interests you.

At lower doses, you don't have a whole lot to fear, as long as you don't do anything stupid like try to drive.

I’ve certainly had a handful of times where I’ve regretted taking it, but been fortune enough to have benzodiazepines at hand which have always turned the trip completely off for me.

I don’t regret taking acid in general though.

It's much safer to open the mind through meditation especially with a trained teacher (satguru).

I've been downvoted by those who are very attached to drugs, it seems.

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